Music of a bygone era gently flows along the river
Monday, August 15, 2005

BY DEEPA RANGANATHAN
Providence Journal Staff Writer

UXBRIDGE, Mass. -- Time hasn't yet found this place.

The Algonkuin Theatre Co. performs Shakespeare's Othello recently at the River Bend Farm in Uxbridge, Mass.
Lush willows droop over a glassy canal. Someone drifts by in a canoe, his paddle across his lap. Even the insects seem a trifle sluggish.
The Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park was made for drowsy banjos and soft ballads.

On a recent Sunday afternoon, a six-piece string band set up shop on the bank of the canal and crooned songs of timeless themes: love, war and country.

More than 100 people dotted the hill near the River Bend Farm Visitors Center. They knitted sweaters and read bestsellers, sitting cross-legged on blankets or reclining in lawn chairs. No one was in a hurry.

The Heritage String Band ("we play all the hits of the 1850s, 60s, and 70s") was in town as part of the park's free summer concert series, which features mostly Blackstone Valley musicians and veers heavily toward Irish, German and American folk music. This year, the series also included four performances of Shakespeare's Othello.

"You won't find heavy metal here," said John Pelczarski, the park's supervisor. "This park is for passive recreation. It's more passive music, too."

The series -- now in its eighth year -- highlights the music and culture of the immigrants who shaped the Blackstone Valley, Pelczarski said. There's a preponderance of Celtic music on the schedule, representative of the Irish workers who dug the 46-mile canal, which paralleled the Blackstone River.

The canal, which opened in 1828, was for 20 years the best way to get produce and lumber from Worcester to Providence -- until the Providence & Worcester Railroad filled in most of it, and put it out of business.

The Heritage String Band sang songs from the canal's heyday, many of them familiar from grade school, such as "Skip to My Lou" and "My Old Kentucky Home." They also played homesick ballads and cheeky reels from the Civil War era. The fiddle swooped, inviting dancers; but the crowd preferred to sit back and sing along.

"These songs all tell a beautiful story, and there are no dirty words in them," said Whitinsville, Mass., resident Ed Quigley, dressed in an embroidered vest and a black derby hat.

Quigley helped form the band about five years ago; now, it actually has groupies, he said.

"I was doing Civil War reenacting and playing around the campfire, and I decided to take the music out to the public," he said. "I never thought it would connect the way it has. It's patriotic music; it makes people proud to be American."

Audience members, mostly Massachusetts residents, said the series also gave them a way to connect with other people.

"Society went through an age where you didn't know your neighbors," said Northbridge, Mass., resident Betty Smyth, curled up comfortably on the grass. "People are starting to realize you need to know your neighbors. I see it coming back, and it's great."

The string band launched into a recitation of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and a medley of patriotic music; one member announced, "If you don't know at least one of these songs, you should be ashamed of yourself." The crowd stood for "God Bless America," then gathered the blankets and lawn chairs.

"It's almost educational," said Uxbridge resident Carole Rogers, as she walked to her car. "You can't hear singing like this anywhere else."

Her husband, Mike Rogers, added, "In Boston, you'd have to be politically correct. You can't mention God and country at the same time. Here, you can do that."

How to get there

The event: Blackstone River & Canal Heritage State Park features free concerts from June through September, each Sunday at 3:30 p.m.

Performers play at the River Bend Farm Visitor Center, 287 Oak St., Uxbridge, Mass. (508) 278-7604.

Getting there: Uxbridge is in south-central Massachusetts, at the junction of Routes 122 and 16.

1.) From Route 146, take Route 16 east to Uxbridge Center, then turn left onto Route 122 north.
2.) In 1.5 miles, turn right at the traffic light onto East Hartford Avenue.
3.) In 1 mile, turn right on Oak Street at the Tri-River Family Health Center.

The Visitor Center is in the big red barn at River Bend Farm.